Dido criticised for 'IRA lyrics'

8th Dec 2008 | 12:27

Singer borrowed line from Irish protest song

Fresh from last month's Safe Trip Home comeback release, Dido has been criticised for using lyrics associated with extreme republican movements including the IRA. The album track Let's Do The Things We Normally Do takes a line from The Barleycorn's The Men Behind The Wire – a protest song once banned by the BBC.

The borrowed lyrics – "armoured cars and tanks and guns, came to take away our sons, but every man must stand behind, the men behind the wire" – originally written by Paddy McGuigan, have come under scrutiny for being "thoughtless."

Dido's late father was of Irish descent and according to Gregory Campbell, member of the Democratic Unionist party and MP for East Londonderry in Northern Ireland, the singer should "clarify her position" over using the lyrics.

"Given her Irish roots, it is inconceivable that she doesn't know the background of the wording," Campbell told The Daily Mail. "She must know it was written about people who were murderers, arsonists and terrorists."

"She should clarify her position so that her fans and the wider public knows where she stands on these things," he continued.